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Sunday, 11 December 2016

Jungle Rock - Caroline James

To celebrate the recent release of Jungle Rock by Caroline James, Brook Cottage Books are running a fabulous promotion day filled with reviews, extracts and a giveaway. I am delighted to take part and if you like what you read, don't forget to head over to Amazon to pick up a copy for yourself.

Genre:
Romcom

Release
Date: 21st
Nov 2016

Publisher:
Ramjam Publishing

Romantic
comedy author, Caroline James has written an entertaining novella
with a Christmas feel Set in the Australian jungle, the book has been
described as ‘entertaining and funny, a real feel-good read’ and
fans of, I’m A Celebrity, Get Me out of Here are sure to enjoy it.

Handsome young chef Zach Docherty is feeling the heat. Following an exposé in a national newspaper, his fiancée Poppy Dunlop has broken their engagement. Heartbroken at the thought of life without Poppy, Zach drowns his sorrows and, when his agent suggests that Zach becomes a contestant in a reality TV show, Jungle Survival, he reluctantly agrees. Plunged deep in the jungle, into a bizarre mix of talent and trials, Zach meets glamour model Cleo Petra, and the cameras go crazy.

Will Zach survive and be crowned Jungle King? Or will his latest exploits push Poppy further away...

What did I think?

I jumped at the chance of reading Jungle Rock as the latest series of I'm a Celebrity was ending and it was just the thing to feed my jungle addiction. The only problem is that it's only a novella and I could have quite easily read a full novel about Zach's exploits in Jungle Survival.

Zach is a celebrity chef but after being caught in a compromising position with a woman who wasn't his fiancée, his engagement is called off and he heads for the Australian jungle to star in Jungle Rock. Poppy, his ex-fiancée also jets off to America as part of the publicity team for another celebrity chef, but even in America you can catch episodes of Jungle Survival. Zach seems like a lovely normal guy and as the real events surrounding the exposé are revealed I had my fingers crossed that it wasn't too late to win back Poppy.

For a short book there are quite a few colourful characters in it and each of them are so much larger than life that they virtually jump out of the pages. It is testament as to how warmly it is written, that I didn't realise that the characters have appeared in previous books. So Jungle Rock can certainly be read as a standalone as I did just that and enjoyed it immensely.

You don't have to be a fan of I'm a Celebrity to enjoy Jungle Rock but for those of us who love our annual 3 week trip to the Australian outback it's a perfect feel-good read.

“He’s doing what?”
Hattie said. She had a mouthful of shortbread and a mug of coffee in
her hand and stopped in her tracks as she watched Jo stare at her
mobile phone.

“Zach’s going into the jungle. He’s
a contestant on Jungle Survival.”

“Oh my.” Hattie smiled and wiped a
spray of crumbs off her chest.

“He’s at the airport with Bob;
they’re about to board a plane.”

“Well I never.” Hattie put her mug on
the desk and stared at her friend. “How do you feel about that?”

“Astonished.”

“It might do him good.”

“Or not.”

“Fancy a bracer?”

“Start pouring.”

Cradling mugs of coffee, laced with a
good slug of brandy, Jo and Hattie sat in the conservatory and looked
out at the garden beyond.

“It doesn’t seem five minutes since
he was a little boy running all over this lawn with his brother,”
Jo said as she stared thoughtfully across the neatly manicured grass.

“And now he’s running off to
Australia.”

In the distance, a group of guests
appeared from the meadow, where a clairvoyance course was being run
in an old gypsy caravan. Originally horse-drawn, the caravan had been
John’s pride and joy, brightly painted with little wooden steps. It
was a perfect setting for an intimate group. Boomerville hosted many
courses for residents to enjoy and it was Jo’s hope that a stay at
the hotel would inspire middle-aged boomers and set them up with new
and inspiring skills to use in their later years.

“Another successful event,” Hattie
said as she watched the beatific expressions of the participants as
they drifted down the garden, confident that the spirits of their
dead granny and Rover, the family pet, were beside them, whispering
and woofing encouraging words from beyond.

“I wish I could see into Zach’s
future,” Jo replied. “I hope he’s not making a terrible
mistake.”

“Well, if he is, he’s picked the
right place to make it. That show’s watched by millions. Perhaps we
should run something similar here?” Hattie closed her eyes and
began to plan out a jungle camp, set in the meadow. “The old ‘uns
would love it! Prancing about like Bear Grylls, cooking over an open
fire, sleeping under the stars. It has ‘winner’ all over it.”

“It has mass suicide all over it,” Jo
replied. “Hyperthermia and food poisoning.”

“Think of the low overheads. We could
bring Wonder Boy in to teach them how to skin a rabbit or two, a bit
of camp-fire bonhomie and all that stuff.”

“Hattie, will you please be serious. My
son is currently on his way to the other side of the world, where
he’ll be exposed to any amount of danger; he’s emotionally
vulnerable and I’m worried about him.”

Hattie sat up and opened her eyes.

“Oh, get a grip,” she said. “Can
you imagine what he’s getting paid for this stint? How can he
possibly go wrong? They’ll have him stripped down to his six-pack
before the opening credits have run. He won’t even need to open his
mouth and the phone lines will be pulsating as fast as every female
viewer’s heart. Your Zach has made his finest career move yet.”
Hattie reached for Jo’s empty mug. “Get that grumpy expression
off yer face and let’s send him good luck wishes for his arrival in
Aus.” She stood and glanced at the group in the garden. “Perhaps
we can get that lot to send him a mystical sign...”

As Jo watched Hattie walk away, she felt
cross. She knew that Hattie was probably right but Jo had a niggling
feeling that Zach’s trip wasn’t going to run as smoothly or as
successfully as everyone expected. A mother had an instinct about her
offspring, but in this case, Jo hoped that her instincts would be
proved wrong.

ABOUT
CAROLINE JAMES

Caroline’s debut
novel, Coffee
Tea The Gypsy & Meshot
to #3 on Amazon and was E-book of the Week in The Sun newspaper. Her
second novel, So,
You Think You're A Celebrity… Chef?
has been described as wickedly funny: 'AbFab
meets MasterChef in a Soap…' Coffee
Tea The Caribbean & Me,
an Amazon best-seller, was a Top Ten Finalist at The Write Stuff,
London Book Fair 2015 and the judge’s comments included: Caroline
is a natural story-teller with a gift for humour in her writing.”
Her next novel, Boomerville
will
be published spring 2017.

Caroline has owned
and run many catering related businesses and cookery is a passion
alongside her writing, combining the two with her love of the
hospitality industry and romantic fiction. As a media agent, Caroline
represented many well-known celebrity chefs and her TV script, So,
You Think You’re A Celebrity Chef?
was runner up at the Winchester Writers Festival 2016.

She has published
short stories and is a member of the Romantic Novelist’s
Association. Caroline writes articles on food and celebrity based
interviews and is Feature Editor for an online lifestyle magazine.
She is a founder member of The Cheshirati and is available for
inspiring and entertaining talks on anything related to the
hospitality and publishing industry.

Buy book themed gadget cases from KleverCase

About Me

I've been an avid reader all my life, I read any genre apart from science fiction. I'm a bit like Rory Gilmore (of The Gilmore Girls series) as I always like to have a book in my bag - thank goodness for e-readers or I'd need a bigger bag! I always make a beeline for book stalls at charity and Christmas fayres.